September news update

Montessori Monday quote “ Whoever touches the life of the child touches the most sensitive point of a whole which has roots in the most distant past and climbs toward the infinite future” Dr. Maria Montessori

CMS Online Web Store

Today, Wednesday, September 12 is the last day to order official CMS shirts. It will open again in the spring prior to the Spring Fling. http://cms.deco-schools.com/

PTC Meeting

Thank you to everyone that attended the August PTC meeting. It was well attended and a wonderful time of exchanging ideas. The next meeting is on Tuesday, September 18th at 5:00-6:00 PM.

Ice Cream Social/Annual Meeting

This event is intended to promote not only community among families and children, but it is also a nice opportunity to hear from the Board President, Administration and the PTC about the focus of the 2018-19 school year. There is children’s entertainment and an interactive parent activity.

Dates Coming Up

Grandparent’s Day-Wednesday, September 12, from 3:00-4:00 PM. This special time is a wonderful opportunity for our students to show their grandparents what special work they are doing in the classroom.
PTC Meeting-September 18, 5:00-6:00 PM
Ice Cream Social/Annual Meeting-Saturday 22, 3:00-5:00

The Montessori Journey was Friday, September 7, 6:00-8:00 PM

Thank you to everyone who attended the Montessori Journey. It was an amazing evening and group discussions and sharing. We will be offering another one on January 25th.

Visitors – If you are on campus please stop by the office to sign in and get a visitor badge.

After School Classes have started

Sign up forms/ flyers for each after school class are available on RenWeb. Simply log into your account and from the home page click on Resource Documents. Scroll through the list of documents to find the flyer you want. If you are interested in Dance to Evolve, Basketball, Lego Robotics, or ThoughtSTEM Coding please be sure to sign up soon. These classes have an enrollment minimum, and if not met we are not able to offer these classes.

Mondays: Art, Dance to Evolve, Basketball, Lego Robotics (K-5)

Tuesday: Chess, Endangered Rangers

Wednesday: Baton, ThoughtSTEM (K-2)

Thursday: Ooey Gooey Science, Playball

Friday: Yoga

School Lunches

This is the last week to sign up for school lunches. Simply log into RenWeb, under student information select lunch and then click create web order.

Montessori Terminology

Absorbent Mind

A mind able to absorb knowledge quickly and effortlessly. Montessori said the child from birth to six years has an absorbent mind.

Concrete to Abstract

A progression both logical and developmentally appropriate. The child is introduced first to a concrete material that embodies an abstract idea such as size or color. Given hands-on experience, the child’s mind grasps the idea inherent in the material and forms an abstraction. Only as the child develops, is she gradually able to comprehend the same idea in symbolic form.

Control of Error

A way of providing instant feedback. Every Montessori activity provides the child with some way of assessing his own progress. This puts the control in the hands of the learner and protects the young child’s self-esteem and self-motivation. Control of error is an essential aspect of auto-education.

Coordination of Movement

One of the major accomplishments of early childhood. Through the child’s own effort, she wills herself to refine her muscular coordination and consequently acquires increasingly higher levels of independent functioning. Because of this developmental need, children are drawn to activities that involve movement and especially to those which demand a certain level of exactitude and precision.

Normalization

If young children are repeatedly able to experience periods of spontaneous concentration on a piece of work freely chosen, they will begin to display the characteristics of normal development: a love of work, an attachment to reality, and a love of silence and working alone. Normalized children are happier children: enthusiastic, generous, and helpful to others. They make constructive work choices and their work reflects their level of development.

Grace and Courtesy

An aspect of Practical Life. Little lessons which demonstrate positive social behavior help the young child adapt to life in a group, and arm her with knowledge of socially acceptable behavior: practical information, useful both in and out of school.

Independence

Not depending on another‚ with various shades of meaning.’ (OED, p. 836) Normal developmental milestones such as weaning, walking, talking, etc. can be seen as a series of events which enable the child to achieve increased individuation, autonomy and self-regulation. Throughout the four planes of development, the child and young adult continuously seek to become more independent. It is as if the child says, Help me to help myself.

Indirect Preparation

The way nature has of preparing the intelligence. In every action, there is a conscious interest. Through this interest, the mind is being prepared for something in the future. For example, a young child will enjoy the putting together of various triangular shapes, totally unaware that because of this work his mind will later be more accepting of geometry. Also called remote preparation, the deeper educational purpose of many Montessori activities is remote in time.

Isolation of a Difficulty

Before giving a presentation, the Montessori teacher analyses the activity she wants to show to the child. Procedures or movements that might prove troublesome are isolated and taught to the child separately. For example, holding and snipping with scissors, a simple movement, is shown before cutting curved or zigzag lines; folding clothes is shown before table washing, an activity requiring folding. A task should neither be so hard that it is overwhelming, nor so easy that it is boring.